Pepper found Tony in the gym a little while later. He looked tense and uneasy and was trying to beat on one of Steve's reinforced punching bags.

"Tony?" she asked.

"Hey Peps. You're not normally down here." Tony hit the bag again, harder than before, though still nowhere near as hard as Steve.

"I was worried," Pepper replied. "I wanted to make sure you were okay." She eyed the punching bag. "You're not normally the one to be attacking those."

"Happy's not around to box with me." Tony shrugged, turning to look at her. "I'm fine, Pepper, nothing major happened. And I'm sure someone's having fun interrogating whoever is behind this."

"Uh huh," Pepper replied, unconvinced. "Tony, you don't usually want to spar with Happy unless you're too uneasy to be in your workshop. What happened?"

"Maeve got shot." Tony didn't look at her, instead grabbing a water bottle and tossing it back and forth between his hands.

"Is she alright?" Pepper asked. "I mean, I know she's an agent and is trained for things like that, but still."

"She seemed alright when she left. She was headed back to medical to make sure she'd be fine." Tony shrugged, looking off to the side.

Pepper studied him for a moment.

"That's not all that happened," she observed. "What has you so worked up?"

Tony stopped moving entirely and sighed. He didn't want to have this conversation at all, but at least with Pepper it would be okay.

"I kissed her."

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"And what prompted that?" she asked.

Tony shrugged uncomfortably. "She did get shot," he pointed out. "Must have been adrenaline or something." Because he was not going to admit anything easily.

Pepper just gave him a Look.

"I know you better than that, Tony," she said. "What's going on?"

Tony sighed and stopped. "I'm no good at this, Pepper," he said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "You know this. This is why we didn't work."

"Tony..." Pepper sighed. "It's not your fault we didn't work. I realized I couldn't handle your being Iron Man. And I couldn't ask you to stop that, not when it means so much to you." She looked at him. "Of course, a SHIELD agent would likely be able to handle you better than I could."

"But what if she can't?" Tony asked, starting to pace again. "Besides, I don't do relationships. I do flings. Genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. Playboy is part of that." Even if he hadn't been nearly so cavalier since the Arc.

"There's only one way to find out," Pepper pointed out. "She's put up with you this long, hasn't she?"

"Yes, but that's different, she's getting paid for that," Tony pointed out. "It's all been assignments so far."

"Tony, there have been several people paid to keep an eye on you," Pepper said. "Hardly any of them last more than a week." She was quiet for a moment. "And I don't think it's all assignments, is it?"

Tony grumbled. "I don't know," he muttered. "She doesn't seem all that pissed off at me yet."

"Then take that as a good sign," Pepper said. She put a hand on his arm. "Tony, I think it'll be good for you to have someone who can appreciate what you do."

"And what about when things like this happen?" Tony asked, not trying to move away. "What about when one or both of us gets hurt because of what we do?"

"Think about it this way," Pepper said. "Would you ask her to stop being an agent? If it was what she enjoyed and was good at? And would she ask you to put down the Iron Man suit and give it up for good?"

Tony was silent. He wouldn't ask her to do that, and he knew she wouldn't ask that of him.

"And what about when it blows up in my face?" he asked finally. Because they both knew he'd never had a successful relationship.

Pepper was quiet for a moment.

"If you had taken her out to dinner, and they brought out one dessert for you to share, and it wasn't cut equally, which piece would you give her?" she asked. "Don't give me a funny look, it's legitimate."